Saturday 30 December 2006
I heard drums late last night, looked out the window, and saw that Rivadavia, a major street nearby, was full of people marching and stomping. We ran downstairs to find that it was a march in memory of the victims of a club fire on December 30th two years ago. The street was full of people for a good half hour, I would guess that there were about 10,000, although I'm not always good at estimating those kinds of things. Here you can see people carrying pictures of some of the victims, there were also a lot of signs demanding justice. (Yes, the club's owner is in jail.)
The club was called Cromagnon, and was stuffed to far over capacity for a concert of a popular band, the Callejeros. Many doors were wired shut to stop people from entering without paying, and children were being kept in a makeshift nursery upstairs. The fire started when some audience members set off fireworks (popular around Christmas and New Year down here) and the very flammable interior caught fire. 194 people died, mostly from inhaling toxic gases caused by burning plastics, and 714 were injured.
Now it is a rallying point for a lot of young people here, the latest tragedy to shout about, and the spark of many new fire safety laws for bars and clubs.
I heard drums late last night, looked out the window, and saw that Rivadavia, a major street nearby, was full of people marching and stomping. We ran downstairs to find that it was a march in memory of the victims of a club fire on December 30th two years ago. The street was full of people for a good half hour, I would guess that there were about 10,000, although I'm not always good at estimating those kinds of things. Here you can see people carrying pictures of some of the victims, there were also a lot of signs demanding justice. (Yes, the club's owner is in jail.)
The club was called Cromagnon, and was stuffed to far over capacity for a concert of a popular band, the Callejeros. Many doors were wired shut to stop people from entering without paying, and children were being kept in a makeshift nursery upstairs. The fire started when some audience members set off fireworks (popular around Christmas and New Year down here) and the very flammable interior caught fire. 194 people died, mostly from inhaling toxic gases caused by burning plastics, and 714 were injured.
Now it is a rallying point for a lot of young people here, the latest tragedy to shout about, and the spark of many new fire safety laws for bars and clubs.
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